Android superstar HTC could be forced out of the U.S. market if rival gadget-maker Apple has its way in court. (Source: Reuters / Pichi Chuang)

If you can't beat them, sue them to death

Apple, Inc. (AAPL)
is piling on patent infringement complaints against Android giant HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) in hopes
that it can convince theU.S.
International Trade Commissionto block the import of
"personal electronic devices" by HTC into the U.S.

On August 5 a federal judge will rule on whether
to suggest that the ITC ban HTC's electronics imports, pending the outcome of
Apple's two lawsuits against HTC [1][2].
That suggestion would be reviewed by the full presiding panel of judges
before any final decision was made.

A blockage on U.S. shipments would be akin to
financial disaster, if not outright death for the Taiwanese phonemaker.
The U.S. is HTC's most lucrative market, and without a steady supply of
product it would see its revenue plunge.

If Apple is granted an injunction, HTC would
likely be forced to try and settle. However, given that Apple has fallen
behind Android in sales, it is unclear whether Apple would accept a settlement,
or would merely refuse to settle in order to kill the successful competitor.

HTC does have hope -- its recent acquisition,
mobile chipmaker S3 Graphics Comp., beat Apple's ITC request in a similar case.
HTC scooped up S3 Graphics for a cool $300M USD in the hopes of
strengthening its lineup of high-end smartphones.

On Sept. 16, an ITC judge will decide on whether
to allow HTC's similar request to ban iPhone/iPad/iPod imports into the U.S.,
pendingHTC's
countersuit against Apple.

"Intel is investing heavily (think gazillions of dollars and bazillions of engineering man hours) in resources to create an Intel host controllers spec in order to speed time to market of the USB 3.0 technology." -- Intel blogger Nick Knupffer